Her Silent Scream
by SongSiren
Summary: Theives have stolen priceless artifacts,impersonating the gang!When the theives move to the human world,they aren't safe in their own homes.When the gang is forced to take refuge with Yusuke's odd cousin and violent uncle,can they save more than themselve
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yeah, it's me again. I know, I know, bad idea to start this story for so many reasons, but I'm afraid I'll loose the idea if I don't start the story soon, so bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho.**

"Get out of here!"

"Hey! We got a bad guy to catch!"

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei stood their ground against the mob in the gateway to a rare demon town that they were trying (without much success) to enter.

"Yusuke," Kurama whispered, "let's try a different approach other than screaming in their faces like you've been doing for the past five minutes." The red-haired man stepped up to the rapidly growing crowd of ogres and demons and put his hands out peacefully. "Please listen to me. We just want to help you…" He was quickly cut off as the crowd gushed its fury.

"We don't want your kind of help!"

"Did old Gorian get help?"

At the mention of 'Gorian', the crowd took a sharp turn for rebellious to riotous.

Hiei drew level with Yusuke. "Let's go, detective. None of them have any intention of letting us past. Besides, it was just a minor break in."

"He stole twelve full-sized diamonds!"

"Hn."

Kurama bowed his head. "As much as I hate to say this, I think Hiei's right, Yusuke. It's better if we did not get hurt trying to apprehend a demon whose style will most likely lead him to strike again."

Yusuke grit his teeth. "Fine," he spat.

The team trekked back to Botan, who was waiting on a nearby hill. She saw their apparent lack of any suspect or evidence, and frowned, looking oddly fish-like in the eerie green light of the portal she had prepared.

"What's wrong guys? Were there no clues?"

"Shut up, just shut up." Yusuke muttered, stepping up to the already prepared portal.

Kurama smiled apologetically. "Yusuke's just upset because there was a… complication. Unfortunately, we couldn't get into the village"

Botan blinked owlishly for a moment before frowning. "What do you mean you couldn't get into the village? I checked out myself; everyone's pretty friendly here."

"I said shut up, Botan!" Yusuke's voice yelled shrilly from the other side of the portal.  
"Damn it, Urameshi, that's no way to talk to a girl!" Kuwabara yelled, jumping into the portal after Yusuke.

Kurama gave her slight smile that said I'll-explain-later, and stepped into the portal. Botan looked questioningly at Hiei, but he ignored her as he walked into the gateway. Sighing in defeat, the blue-haired woman stepped after her irritated friends into the hallway just outside the doors of the spirit world's ruler… well, the ruler's son.

Kuwabara had wrestled Yusuke to the ground (probably through surprise attack) and had hooked a finger in his mouth. As he held his struggling friend in a chokehold, he began screaming about apologizing to Botan.

Flattered and embarrassed, the woman giggled nervously into the palm of her hand before turning her attention to the other two. Kurama and Hiei were being escorted by (actually walking ahead and practically ignoring) George the Ogre, who was wringing his hands nervously and desperately trying to get their attention before they walked through the golden doors they were headed to.

Botan followed quietly into the office of Lord Koenma.

The young (for even though he insisted to the contrary, he was quite young for someone from the Sprit World) Lord was furiously stamping papers on his desk, completely ignoring the group and George, who looked as if he was going to faint any minute from anxiety.

Finally, Kuwabara and Yusuke joined them, Yusuke looking even angrier than he had before, and Kuwabara sporting several new lumps on his head and face. Yusuke's small patience lasted about a minute before he began yelling for Koenma's attention.

Just as he opened his mouth to begin yelling, Koenma's head snapped up, eyes blazing with fury. "How dare you!" The Lord hollered angrily.

Yusuke stopped his stream of curses for a moment and joined the others in staring blankly at the enrage man in a toddler's body. Koenma had, at this point, jumped on top of his desk, so they could clearly see him shaking with rage.

"How dare you come back here after what you have done!"

All turned their widened (though perhaps only fractionally, as in Hiei's case) eyes on the ruler. They had never seen him this mad before.

Finally, it was Botan who chanced speaking, "Done what, Lord Koenma?"

His gaze did not soften as be turned his head towards the ferry girl, keeping his finger pointing accusingly towards the boys, "Theystolethediamondsandmurderdgorian!" His garble would have been funny if not for his rage.

Kurama stepped in front of Botan, as if he could shield her from Koenma's wrath. "Please calm down, sir." He waited a moment for Koenma to take a deep breath. "Now, please tell us what you think we did."

Koenma sat back in his chair. "George!"

Quickly the blue ogre raced into the room. The boys turned their backs of the young-looking Lord as the green walls parted and the oval screen was revealed to them. With a sharp bark from Koenma, George pressed a button and the screen blinked into action.

On it was a picture of Hiei, a sack in his hand as he raced away in the air from a building, grinning. The fire demon himself ignored the glares and looks of surprise from his comrades, neither raising to his own defense nor to confirm that it had indeed been him in the picture.

A slide clicked as another button was pushed. This time it was a madly grinning Yusuke, pointing his Spirit Gun towards a group of menacing ogres and lesser-demons, them armed with only the clothes on their backs and the mining and farming equipment each kept for his or her occupation. It wad more obvious now that this was the region that the boys had visited earlier that day. Three diamonds sparkled at his feet. As Yusuke began to protest loudly, George slapped an impatient hand hard against his mouth.

Once again the slide clicked. In this picture, Kuwabara was beating off half a dozen of the ogres, these more heavily armed with leather padding and wooden swords, which were crackling under the might of Kuwabara's Spirit Sword. The backs of Hiei, Yusuke, and Kurama could be seen running into a steel building that was so unlike the daub and wattle ones that occupied the region. George's other hand found Kuwabara's mouth before he had a chance to begin to take in the breath to yell.

The last slide clicked into place, this one of Kurama. His rose whip was whirring at awesome speeds, only a green flash in the still-frame picture. However, the boys and Botan could see clearly that he was attacking an old ogre, his coloring and horn placement making him a likely candidate for George's grandfather. The four who were just now seeing the pictures looked towards Kurama, who only looked thoughtful, considering the picture with his fist vertically placed under his chin, as if he were viewing an abstract painting.

The nearly-invisible green doors on either side of the monitor closed as the boys, Botan and George (hands keeping Yusuke and Kuwabara from crying out) turned to the Spirit ruler. Koenma seemed to have composed himself by then, and gave a quick nod in George's direction, the ogre quickly removed his hands and stepped away from the bulk of the two's anger. Immediately the yelling began.

"What the hell…"

"We didn't do that…"

"Where's my lawyer…."

"Those pictures were doctored…"

As the yelling continued, Kurama decided that it had gone too far, "Yusuke, Kwabara, quiet down."

They did not stop.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara!" Kurama said louder.

Still they did not stop.

"Yu… Thank you, Hiei."

The fire demon in question was holding his sword to the two boy's throats. "Hn."

"Now, stay quiet," Kurama said, glaring slightly at the two boys, "and let me talk." He turned his attention back to Koenma. "Now, I am sure there is a logical explanation to this, but I want to tell you that none of us stole those diamonds."

Kownma seemed about to say something when his attention was averted elsewhere. George had slowly raised his hand. "What?" The Spirit ruler snapped impatiently.

"S- sir. If it helps, there are alibis for each and every one of them; perhaps we should give them a fair chance."

Koenma's face was shadowed as he thought on it. Silently, he picked up an orange book from his desk. It looked more like a journal than anything.

"Well," he said when he finally spoke again, "we can try and disprove that you were there, but I can't do anything for you right away." He snapped the book up and said impassively, "Well boys, we'll look into it, but until we have solid proof that it was not you, you are all going to have to go to the Spirit Prison until further notice."

"What!"

"Hey! We didn't do it!"

"Come down here, shorty, I'll give ya Spirit Prison!"

As Yusuke and Kuwabara continued their rant, Hiei and Kurama only shared a glance, each wondering silently who would, or could for that matter, frame them. All the enemies that they had faced in the past were either dead or behind bars of the Spirit Prison, and there were nightly checks to make sure that there were no break-outs. Upon thinking this, Kurama suddenly had a very troubling thought.

"Koenma… if we are being sent to Spirit Prison, what's to stop all the people who hate us from well… seeking their vengeance?"

Koenma frowned, "Well, nothing really… but I suppose you could be placed in a private cell, however they are usually smaller"

"I choose death," Hiei muttered.

Kurama spared a glance at Hiei, "We'll take it." He added uncertainly, "But… could you please try and hurry to prove us innocent?"

Koenma nodded in reply then called out shrilly (to be heard over Yusuke's and Kuwabara's din), "Guards!"

The four found themselves in the iron grips of large, red, ogres and were promptly dragged from the room. When they were gone, Koenma issued a long sigh and sat back in his chair.

After judging that the time was right, George asked, "Lord Koenman, forgive my impertinence, but do you… really believe that those boys did it?"

Koenma sighed again, this time a rough, escape of breath that hurt his throat, "I hope not, George. Let's get to work; hope and reality are very different things."

**A/N: Hope you guys liked it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm glad people liked it, hope you all like the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, really tired of writing disclaimers.**

Hiei let out yet another angry sigh as Kuwabara and Yusuke began another argument. For a moment, he wondered how two allies could possibly pick so many fights with each other. He looked over at Kurama to see him wearily trying to break apart the two.

The humans were lucky that every demon, human, and spirit that entered the Spirit Prison were forced to wear Sprit Shackles on their necks, wrists and ankles to block Spirit energy, or ki (Most ogres were trusted, though they were customarily checked at the gates, as many of them had Spirit World jobs. All of the Prison's guards were ogres), for if they were not, Hiei probably would have killed them within the first two hours of imprisonment. Of course, more powerful demons and humans in Yusuke's and Kuwabara's (though he certainly much less than Yusuke) could feel their power simmering just below the surface of the skin, sometimes to an almost painful level, depending on the level of power of the demon.

With a grunt of exertion, Kurama was able to push the boys apart. Muttering an unfelt apology, Kurama punched Yusuke in the stomach and hold Kuwabara back as the pain cooled Yusuke down some. A moment later, they were back to square one; trying to figure out whom in the three worlds would impersonate them to steal.

"How about a rival team from the Dark Tournament, trying to put us in jail as a sort of weird revenge?" Yusuke suggested.

Kurama took a moment to think, then shook his head. "No, I don't think that's probable. If I remember the registry correctly, there was not a single team made up entirely of shape shifting demons. Not only that, but they neither allowed themselves to be caught as Youko or with Hiei's Jagan eye. Either of those forms of us would have ultimately stacked the evidence against us."

Let the record show that Hiei did not _want_ to speak up; he did not _want _to add his voice to the idiots' and Kurama's. However, he also did not _want _to be in this accursed place with barely four square feet for himself.

"They only knew the barest of our attacks; they must not have fought against us before."

Kurama nodded in agreement. "I think you're right, Hiei. They probably heard about us through hearsay at some tavern or another; from what I've heard from George, we all are talked about quite a lot."

Hiei could practically see the question mark above both humans' head as they gave the two demons a blank look. After a moment's blissful quiet, Kuwabara opened his mouth.

"So… a lot of people are talking about us? Why don't we have a bunch of guys on us every time we come here, then?"

Kurama's patience was slowly eroding, but he remained the same composed man that Yusuke and Kuwabara had become comfortably accustomed to. "Well, for one thing, you can't underestimate our combined power as well as our individual power. Though thousands of demons die per day because they are too weak, many of them survive. Still, because we all are permanently residing in the human world, we do not come across many demons that are very weak, as we are only called upon when Koenma can not send anyone else. There are not many who would dare attack one of us when we were alone, and even less when we were all together, or even in a group of two. However, there are probably still thousands of kidnap plans all over the demon world for us." Yusuke and Kuwabara shared a slightly panicked glance with each other before Kurama continued, "Something else you must realize is that although many do not like us, some do. We are like film stars of today; we are both hated and loved, and we are the topic of both good and bad conversation."

Hiei mentally groaned as the two idiots looked at each other, their grins so wide had he not known them, he would have thought that they were mad. In another moment, they were both on their feet, chanting a silly song.

"We're famous. We're famous."

They had been able to get through their chant about three times before Hiei lifted them off the floor and glared at them heatedly. "Shut. Up. Now." He let them drop to the ground. The boys did not offer cries of protest.

There was a, earsplitting screech (which was particularly shrill for Hiei and Kurama, who had extremely sensitive ears) as the heavy metal door was unbolted several times and opened. Hiei suspected that the lock was just a formality; Kurama was one of the world's best thieves, Hiei the fastest and had extreme power in heat (though it was diminished greatly by the Spirit Shackles), and Yusuke had the Spirit Gun, which could easily pierce through metal and most magic. Even Kuwabara had some small amount of power, though the Spirit Shackles blocked most of it.

George the ogre stepped into the prison cell, looking nervous to be there as well as happily relieved. "Er… er… we have found alibis for all of you," he stuttered. Everyone, including Kurama was now glaring at the blue ogre. "Also, I've found that there were several swipes of blood and fingerprints taken, and none of yours matched. So… you've all been cleared of all charges."

Hiei was marching past the ogre before the sentence was completely out of his mouth.

"Hiei! Wait!" Yusuke ran out into the hallway, but did not move any farther towards Hiei, who was already halfway down the hall.

"Hn."

"Where are you going?"

Hiei stared sideways at him for a moment, summoning up all of his patience. "Away. Very far away."

Then he made good on his promise and ran very far away.

**A/N: I know, short sucky chapter, but the next one will be good, I promise. Tell me if the story is moving too fast, though a lot of people say that I move my stories too slow.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm glad people have liked this story so far, but I wish you guys would review more. Help me make a better story for you! (and no, any flamers out there, I will not give up on the story so don't bother sending that review)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho.**

_Not far enough._ Hiei thought sullenly.

He had run for hours and went to the most obscure place he could find. Finally, he had stopped to rest in a tree, even taking the precaution to rest in the lower boughs. Still, that wench Botan had managed to find him.

Now he stood there with the idiots and Kurama in the early morning. Koenma was nervously tapping his pen against his desk as he waited for the two idiots to calm down. When they finally did, the young king spoke.

"There was another robbery last night," Koenma said.

"Hey! We're not going back to jail!"

"Yeah we got alibis!"

As Yusuke and Kuwabara raised their fists in anger, Koenma crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What I was _going _to say, before I was so rudely interrupted, is that the Maki is in an uproar now, and several bounty hunters have been set out after you. Your impersonators have stolen from every major city and town in the eastern region of the Maki. I'm sorry boys, but to protect you, as employees, we have to take precautions."

Hiei's ears pricked at this statement. He did not like where this was going…

"Therefore, you all must be confined to the human world until this entire mess in sorted out."

Hiei's head snapped up.



_Damn smoke-filled city._

_Damn filthy ningens._

_Damn cement._

_Damn twig._

_Damn-_

_**Must you continue doing that? **_Kurama thought wearily at Hiei.

_Damn you._

Kurama chuckled aloud, "Truly, Hiei, you could use a little patience. I'm sure the ogres in the Spirit World will have this sorted out soon enough."

"Hn. If I have to hear one more ningen complain or one more metal machine honk, I will take my sword to the nearest creature," Hiei replied stoically, annoyance only able to creep into his voice when he mentioned the 'metal machines'.

"They're cars, Hiei," Kurama said tiredly.

"Hn."

They arrived at the gates of a large building, with many ningens milling about, talking in high-pitched, annoying voices. As Hiei made for the tree that he had used to rest in while Kurama was gone for the past week, the ex-thief reached a restraining hand.

"You know, you could come to school. It would not be hard to convince the teachers that you are a foreign student. Your disdain for everything around you will provide enough evidence."

"Hn," Hiei bounded into the tree as the excruciatingly loud first bell sounded.

Kurama sighed as he walked into the building.



Nine and a half hours later (as Kurama was required to stay after for something called 'student council'), Hiei jumped down from his tree. He had trained himself to be patient quite awhile ago, but now he was not waiting for prey, or out waiting a predator (which he would only do if he had something to gain from leaving the nuisance alive). Still, it had been difficult to get through the day without killing someone, though one windshield had suffered three well-aimed sticks that had pierced through the glass.

"Not what?" he asked, annoyed.

Kurama looked at him sympathetically, "Now, usually, I go home to do my homework."

Hiei looked sideways at Kurama, "More?" he asked. Kurama had had homework everyday since the first day they had been locked here.

Kurama smiled weakly, "Well, homework is a review of what we did in school, so we remember it."

"Hn."

"Well, I suppose we could trai… is that George?" Kurama asked incredulously.

Hiei was already over to the ogre, dragging the poor blue man behind a building. Kurama sighed heavily before jogging to catch up with them. This was becoming a very trying week. He rounded the corner and came upon the scene of two very silent other-wordly creatures. Hiei was trying to stare George down and the repentant ogre was trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

"George… why are you here?" Kurama asked, thinking it better to get to the point.

George rubbed his hands nervously. "Well… we've cutoff any communication between you and the other worlds, but Koenma feels it's important to keep you all informed of the happenings. Contrary to what we thought would happen, since you all left, the thefts have increased." George looked around at them, as if expecting them to attack. He visibly flinched as he uttered the next words, "We think, without our best detectives on the scene, you all will be trapped in the human world for a good while."

Kurama caught Hiei's fist and, after muttering a quick farewell to George, practically dragged his friend away from the alley and down the street. They walked a few blocks before both demons heard footsteps behind them. Before they had a chance to get suspicious, they heard both Yusuke's and Kuwabara's voices calling out to them. Each demon preparing himself for some kind of mental stupidity, they turned as one.

A look at both the humans' faces automatically sent their comrades into defense-aggress mode. They were ready to fight, as well as defend as the boys caught their breath.

When he was able, Yusuke looked at his friends. "Guys… there's been a theft."

"We're not here to take care of human affairs," Hiei said.

Yusuke shook his head and pulled a newspaper out of his bag. On the front page, there was a picture of the shapes of all four of them as they fled a crime scene. For once, Yusuke seemed serious.

"They followed us."

**A/N: I know, long time to update and not the best chapter ever, but I'm trying. Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, good parts are coming up soon!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own; if I did, I'd get it on Cartoon Network.**

"BOTAN!"

The blue-haired ferry girl nervously poked her head into her boss's office. Koenma was about four notches short of having an all-out temper tantrum. Knowing that if she pretended to not be there would make the tiny prince's rage even worse. She carefully stepped into the office, mentally trying to shield herself from Koenma's wrath.

"HOW IN THE…"

"Sir," Botan began timidly, "would you mind not yelling? How about taking ten deep breaths?"

Koenma did as she bade him, taking ten breaths before attempting to speak again. When he eventually did, his anger boiled through his voice, "How in the seven hells did this happen." He threw a human newspaper at the ferry girl.

She caught it and did not have to unroll the gray paper to know what Koenma was referring to. Either the imitators had found a way to get to the human world, or the boys really were guilty. Considering what it would mean for the Spirit, Demon, and Human world, Botan was not sure which she was more anxious about.

"S-sir? Do you think that—"

Koenma cut her off, waving his hand tiredly, "No I don't. The boys have been under constant surveillance ever since they returned to the human world."

"So how—"

"I don't know. There has to be an open portal somewhere in the Maki." Koenma glared at her from under his hat, "You are to organize all of the other ferry girls any find that portal."

"What! Me?" Botan exclaimed, surprised.

Koenma glared at her, "Yes you. Now go." He pointed towards the door.

As she left, he called after her, "AND SOMEONE TELL THE BOYS!"



"AND DON'T YOU COME BACK IN THIS HOUSE! YOU UNGRATEFUL, GOOD-FOR NOTHING PIECE OF—"

Yusuke ran out of his house, random pieces of pottery and even a hairdryer following. Something must have hit home, because as he walked up to the group waiting on the sidewalk, he was rubbing his head and muttering curses under his breath.

"What do we do now? We can't stay here; Atsuko finally woke up from her drunken stupor for five minutes and doesn't want us in her house. Fuckin' whore is supposed to believe her son more than those idiots at the press," he grumbled angrily.

For the past two weeks, the boys had been staying at Yusuke's house. They would have stayed at Kuwabara's slightly larger home, but his sister found out about the thefts within the same day as the boys and had kicked her little brother out of the house. Kurama loathed imposing on his friends, but he did not want anything to happen to his mother, either. Hiei only stayed because he had nowhere else to go. They had stopped going to school and had basically been able to drop off the face of the planet for awhile, with Keiko bringing them food and information from the outside world.

Now they had nowhere. Hiei mentally sighed. If he had to, he'd bring them out to the forest and give them the chance to stay there. They could not stay in town; it seemed as if cops were everywhere now that they were wanted. Still, it seemed a shame to disrupt the peace of Hiei's favorite spot in the forest for something as petty as human law.

"Well, I suppose we could go and live with my mother; there won't be a lot of space…"

"No," Hiei cut Kurama off. He wound _not _share such a small space with the idiots.

Kuwabara seemed to think for a moment, "Well I got an aunt living in Scotland. It's nice and cold up there and it would only be a couple hours' flight…"

"No." Hiei repeated. Mentally he sighed. If there really was no other choice…

"You know," Yusuke began, and then fell silent, thinking.

Kurama stepped forward. "What is it, Yusuke?"

Yusule bit his lip and rolled his eyes skyward, as if concentrating on something. "Hold on," he muttered distractedly.

The other Detectives watched as Yusuke jogged back to his house, dodging the occasional badly-thrown household items. There were a few rough words exchanged between Yusuke and his mother before Yusuke ran out of the house, with a piece of paper folded in his hand. This time Atsuko was following.

Hiei's lip curled in disgust of the woman before him. Yusuke had been over-exaggerating when he had told them that Atsuko had woken up from her drunken stupor. On the contrary, she looked as if she was just starting. Her hair had not been brushed in days and her clothes hung off her thin frame haphazardly. Although demons were not over concerned with their appearance, they did at least strive for _cleanliness._

"Fine then, _go," _Atsuko slurred her words and looked unbalanced for a moment. "Go to that good-for-nothing uncle of yours." She blinked, and then smiled slowly. "But say hi to Saya for me."

"Yeah, yeah. Go inside and drink your happy juice," Yusuke responded irately, obviously still annoyed at his eviction.

As Atsuko left them, Kurama cocked his head, "Your uncle and Saya?"

Yusuke shrugged, and looked as if he did not want to talk about it. He handed Kurama the piece of paper. Hiei, uninterested in whatever scribbles were on the paper, listened sordidly.

"That's my cousin and me when we were six. She was born a few months after me, so we were friends when they lived here in the city." Yusuke shook his head and looked at the ground. "She used to keep me from doing stupid shit. When her dad moved them out to the country, we stopped talking," he ended his story abruptly.

"There's an address on the back; is that where we're going?" Kurama asked, turning the paper over.

Yusuke nodded, "Yeah." He met Kuwabara's and Kurama's eyes. "Get your stuff and we'll meet at the train station in awhile."

Kurama nodded and handed the picture back to Yusuke. As the others left, Yusuke stared at the paper fondly.

"You know, I never visited Saya since she left? I only saw her when my grandma invited her to family things." Hiei assumed that the boy was talking to him, as there was no one left. Yusuke chuckled darkly, "She always used to beat up on me, ever since we were little kids. That's how she kept me out of trouble." The boy sobered, as if all willpower had been absorbed into the air around him. "I always worry about her, though."

Hiei, although slightly curious as to why he was worried for his cousion, simply 'hned' and said quietly, "Worrying does nothing for her."

Yusuke frowned and shook his head, covering something with faux optimism. "Yeah I guess you're right," he scratched the back of his head. "Well I'm goin to go sneak into my room to get my stuff."

Hiei watched him go, but his attention was diverted as something fell to the ground. It was the paper. He picked it up and examined it. On the front was a laughing six year old girl, presumably Saya. She was not an ugly child (Hiei was a far throw from calling anything or anyone cute), although she had light green hair and dark green eyes. That was odd. She was sitting in a red milk crate that had been cut into a seat and hung from a tree. Behind her, a very young Yusuke was holding the ropes that suspended the swing. Both seemed happy.

Hiei frowned and brought the picture closer. In the background was a woman, with brown wavy hair. She was looking at the ground and frowning sourly. In the line of her vision, was a small light. The image of the fence in the background looked faded, as if the picture had been damaged. But the way it was faded, made the silhouette look oddly like a tiny demon. Hiei turned his attention back to the woman. She had purple eyes.

Yusuke came running out of the house, a bottle of sake following. Hiei handed him the paper silently as they began walking towards the train station.

_There's more to that picture than meets the eye, I know it._

**A/N: Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: ****Anyone who wants to check out a personal story I did myself, I have the prolouge up for a story I'm doing called 'Fallon's Fight' on deviantart .com under the name 'elpmip'. Some keywords (if you're having trouble finding it) are 'fantasy', 'fallon', 'lilth', 'fight' or 'insanity'. Next chapter, I'll have a summary for the story up.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho.**

Silence weighed heavily on the cab. None of the boys had spoken an excess word since they'd arrived at the train station. Yusuke seemed to be lost deep in his own thoughts. Kurama nervously fiddled with his hands, probably thinking of his mother, who had been at work when he had left. Kuwabara simply stayed quiet, and for that Hiei was so grateful, he did not bother to delve into the boy's thoughts to find out why.

The trip was long, however, and after only an hour of silence, Kurama broke it. "It's very odd that the thieves would break into the human world."

Yusuke shrugged, leaning back into the red plush seat of the cab and stretching his legs. "Why? Demons escape into the human world all the time."

Kurama nodded. "But the Spirit world always detects the intrusion. This time, from what George told us, they found out through a human newspaper and us. And they were almost entirely unopposed in the Spirit World while we were stuck here." Kurama sighed heavily and looked out the window. "Their actions aren't consistent. They have nothing to gain by stealing in this world where we can eventually catch them."

The boys were quiet as they digested Kurama's words. Hiei, having already thought this out, simply racked his brains for a solution. He simply wished to track them down and kill them, but he doubted that the others would get far with the authorities on them, and killing the thieves would do nothing to clear the human world dwellers' name. They had lives to go back to, and Hiei would grudgingly respect that.



Yusuke sat with his hands folded in his lap, thinking. His stomach began to churn uncomfortably as the train got closer and closer to their stop. He nervously grit his teeth as he thought of his family.

His uncle was nice enough, although he was loud. Yusuke could not remember a lot about him, as he usually never came outside the house whenever Atsuko had brought Yusuke to visit his cousin.

Atsuko had always gone to her sister for help when she was raising Yusuke, being young and refusing to go to her mother for help. Yusuke could not remember his aunt very well, as she had died shortly after he had turned seven.

Yusuke frowned and cast a quick look about his companions. The recent events that had caused their eviction from their homes had taken its toll on Kurama; he remained completely still, looking out the window, his eyes dark. Across from him, Kurama slept, drooling against the glass of the window. Hiei's eyes were nearly invisible under his bangs.

Secretly, Yusuke was glad that his companions were paying no heed to his inner angst. Although he had offered his uncle's house to them, he was not entirely sure that they would be welcome there.

He had loved his cousin, Saya, dearly, and they had always been able to take care of each other as children, even when their mothers could not. However, after Saya's father had decided to move what remained of their family, including their small puppy, Fang, to the country, far away from the city that Yusuke and his mother had always lived in.

Since the move, which was ten years ago when they were seven, he had hardly ever seen his cousin, as the journey was far and the tickets too expensive for Atsuko (luckily the boys had managed to scrounge enough together to buy the tickets for Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke and Hiei had snuck aboard the train at the last second using his speed). Often, when he bothered to show up, Yusuke found that his grandmother had been able to invite Saya, paying for her ticket and providing lodging. Yusuke's uncle had never came to one of these reunions, and Yusuke always assumed it was because he would feel out of place, since he really was not part of the family.

When Saya and Yusuke were eventually reunited, they shared awkward hellos and how-have-you-beens. His grandmother had always warned him to watch out for Saya, but there was really nothing he could do. She had seemed fine when he saw her, just more quiet than ever and perhaps a bit more nervous than usual. Soon, their friendship faded and Saya stopped coming to the reunions, five years ago. Yusuke had stopped going when he entered high school.

Could their relationship now be so estranged that Saya would not let them through the door?

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Hiei withdrew from Yusuke's thoughts, thinking over the information he had just acquired. He usually did not like to delve into the thoughts of his companions, but in this case, he felt justified. Yusuke was being far too quiet and he wanted to know where they were going.

So they might not have shelter where they were going? The realization of how desperate the humans (of part-humans in Yusuke and Kurama's case) were becoming for shelter hit Hiei.

_They truly must be grasping at straws. If this doesn't work, they may have to cross oceans._

Hiei frowned as he realized something else he had found hidden among Yusuke's thoughts. _That woman is dead. Perhaps this is a mystery that will be left unsolved. _His memory flitted back and in his mind's eye, he could see a little girl with green hair on a swing, laughing.

As the train shrieked, pulling into the station, Hiei stored the information (an the mental picture) in the back of his mind.

**A/N: I know, short chapter but I have big ideas for the future!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi everybody!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho; it's too late to come up with a snarky remark.**

"Uhh… it's this way."

"No. Definitely this way."

"Or maybe down that road…"

Kurama, Hiei and Kuwabara watched as Yusuke wrestled with a map and his picture and changed directions every few seconds. After a few minutes, the show got old and their patience frayed.

A middle-ages woman passed in front of them, stopping as she noticed the odd group. Her frizzy hair seemed to move with a life of its own as she raised an eyebrow and spoke, her tone demanding and haughty. "I hope you boys didn't come to town just to cause trouble. We've got enough of that with Akihito's gang and Saburou's son's problems…"

Kurama gallantly stepped forward and offered the woman a shallow bow. "Excuse me, miss, but we are not here to cause anyone problems. We are merely here to visit our friend's cousin." He motioned to Yusuke, who had joined them at that time, and effortlessly took the picture from his friend's hand. He leaned in slightly. "Could you please give us the directions to this residence?"

The woman, obviously flattered, moved forward to quickly glance at the address on the photograph. The slight pink on her cheeks faded, however, as her face darkened. She shook her head sadly.

"I hope you nice boys can do that poor girl that lives up in that way some good. Take this road…"

A few minutes later, the boys walked with a spring in their step down a dirt road, skipping aside once or twice to let a car or bike pass by. Kurama was thinking hard on what the woman said. Deciding that prudence would be better than blindly charging into anything, he spoke up.

"Yusuke, what did that woman mean by, 'do that poor girl some good'?"

He did not miss the nervous glance Yusuke shot towards him before shrugging, "I don't know."

Kurama tried not to glare. "Yusuke, if there's something we should know…"

"The Spirit Detective does not know if his family will take us in because he has failed to keep in contact with them over the years." Hiei said monotonously, continuing to walk even as Kurama and Kuwabara stopped to stare unbelievingly at Yusuke.

Yusuke stood sulking for a few moments before shrugging. "That about sums it up," he said. "And I know what you guys are thinking; we're screwed if my uncle turns us away." He finally met their gazes, "But at least we're safe out here, we can get jobs until we figure out what to do."

With these words, the finality of their predicament seemed to sink in with both of the boys. The rest of the walk was silent.



"Yusuke, are you sure that this is the right house?"

"You see any other houses?" Yusuke asked rhetorically in answer to Kurama's question.

"No." Kurama answered calmly.

The house before them was… disappointing. None of the boys lived in perfect conditions, but at least their homes met the average health and safety laws. Yusuke stared at the house in disbelief, wondering if anyone actually lived there, despite what he had said to Kurama.

A wrought iron fence with a crooked gate enclosed a rough square, in the center of which was the house. The entire house looked as if it was slightly off center, as if it had gradually shifted throughout the years until finally, it was obvious (even to the untrained eye) that something had gone wrong in the building of the house. The white paint of the house had peeled back in some places, replaced by decaying boards. The roof slumped in the middle, and many of the dark shingles were missing. To the side of the house was a chimney; its top was overgrown with what seemed to be weeds and many of the bricks lay scattered and broken on the ground. Several windows were broken, the glass shards that remained in their frames like menacing teeth.

However, there was some evidence that someone lived there that Kurama had overlooked a moment before; the lawn. It was cut neatly down to an acceptable (though certainly longer than average) few inches in height. Bright flowers grew along the side of the house and into the back; though they did not seem to be in any real order or plot, it was obvious that they were taken care of well.

Yusuke warily approached the gate, wincing when it squealed as he opened it. He stepped into the yard, and when no booby traps of any sort had sprung (_'weirder things have happened' _he silently mused) he relaxed a bit. He turned to his friends as if to say, 'well, come on,' and continued the trek up the slight slop to the house.

He paused when he reached the white, peeling door. His heart was suddenly banging quite rapidly in his chest and he could feel his stomach flipping. He was disgusted to find that his hand was shaking. Tightening his hand into a fist, he rapped smartly on the door.

There was no answer. He raised his hand to knock again, but a quiet clearing of the throat made him jump. Yusuke turned around to glare at Kurama for breaking the almost solemn hush that had settled over them (or at least him) since they had entered the yard.

Kurama laughed nervously for a moment before saying, "Yusuke, it _is_ two o'clock in the afternoon… don't you think your uncle would be at work and your cousin at school?"

Yusuke froze for a few seconds before offering lamely, "I knew that." He laughed sheepishly. "Hey Kurama, think you can work your lady skills to get that old bag to tell us where the school is?"

**A/N: Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi there. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho.**

The group, except for Hiei, sat dismally on the sidewalk. Hiei sat above them in a short tree. They had gone to the local high school, asking for Saya. The fact that Yusuke could not provide a last name did not slow them down. In fact, the principal seemed to know exactly who they were asking for. The fat, small-eyed man had rolled his eyes and replied will a sneer that Saya was probably "out terrorizing small children and old ladies". Kurama and Kuwabara had been forced to drag Yusuke away from attempting (and very nearly succeeding) in bashing the man's head in.

The group had to stand and move out into the street as a group of seven boys past them. Each of the boys were wearing black pants and a white button-down shirt; the uniform for the school. They were laughing at one's joke and glaring at anyone around them at the same time.

As they passed, Yusuke fell into step behind them. The two red-heads looked at each other for a moment as if to ask: is-he-really-doing-this? Kuwabara shrugged at Kurama's confused expressions before catching up with Yusuke and pulling him back.

"Urameshi, whattaya think you're doing?" he asked, the normal threatening undertone in his voice completely gone.

Yusuke glared after the group of boys—one of the them kicked a trashcan into the road, its metal form denting—as he spoke, "Look, Saya's obviously not going to win any prizes for virtuous awards, and those guys are the same kind of punk-wannabes that I used to beat up on back home." He shrugged Kuwabara's hand away. "All punks know each other. I'm going to find my cousin."

Almost without thinking, his friends followed him (though Hiei would argue that he was just following because he had nowhere else to be). They always stayed a few yards behind the group, following them to a river in the park. At some odd signal, three of the punks sprawled out under the shade of a mid-sized tree beside the stream. The rest sharply turned about to glare at the boys.

Yusuke gave them a knowing grin; it was always the same with gangs, be it the hard-core city guys or the country wannabes. Every one of the standing boys was probably an idiot from a broken family and unhappy home, looking for kin in this sad excuse for a gang. That or they just needed the money from whatever small steals or drug deals the gang made. How sad. One of the boys sitting on the ground was the smart one; the leader. He did not have to be particularly strong-looking… there. The boy leaning against the tree, with clever eyes and something of muscle beneath those ridiculous torn clothes. Fair hair that curled out from his head gave him an almost-feminine appearance. Beside him were his lackeys, the ones that were probably the most loyal to him and had been with him the longest. Yusuke had assessed the group in less than thirty seconds.

"Whaddaya want?" snarled one of the boys, blocking Yusuke's view of the leader with his thick body.

Instantly, Yusuke was annoyed with him, but he kept his cool as he began interrogating the boy. "I'm lookin' for someone. A girl, my age, green hair? Seen her around?"

The boy looked genuinely shocked. He backed up a few steps then ran to his leader. A few muffled words were exchanged before the Leader lazily reached up and slapped the guy's head. They boy returned looking like a beaten puppy with one of the Leader's lackeys.

The boy was the typical thug; muscles, shirt opened to reveal them, shiny brass rings on his finger and a creepy grin plastered on his face. "So you say you're looking for a girl, eh?"

"That's right. My age, green hair? Seen her?"

Before the boy had a chance to answer, a huge black dog bounded up. It barked twice and growled lowly at the group of punks, totally ignoring Yusuke and his friends.

"Woah… that's the Queen's dog. Maybe we should go; she'll be here any minute."

"Bring them to me."

The gang froze at the order. Yusuke rolled his eyes and pushed his way through the crowd to where the leader was now standing, his friends following him, more curious as to what Yusuke would do to these arrogant boys than worried about his safety. The dog followed behind the rest of the group, trailing after Hiei. They met eyes and glared at each other for a minute. Overhead, a bird chirped loudly and flew from its nest.

"So you wan to find the green-haired girl?" The Leader said in a bored, smooth voice.

Yusuke was pretty sure that he was not going to like this guy.

"Yeah. You seen her?"

The Leader smiled, exposing an uneven tooth. "Maybe I have," he snapped a finger and the rest of his gang formed a circle around Yusuke's, "and maybe I haven't." His brown eyes glinted. "Information don't come cheap around here, and me and my boys were just getting bored." The gang sniggered. "Why don't you let us knock you and your guys around for a little while, then we'll tell you what we know."

No, Yusuke was not going to like this guy at all. He smirked at the guy and cracked his neck. Behind him, his team mentally sighed. Honestly, he should have let the little human boys go.

As the boys began advancing on the group, everyone seemed to be suddenly aware of something. The silence. The dog had been barking ever since the boys had been circling around Yusuke's group, but now it was silent. A moment later, there was rustling in the boughs of the tree above.

There was a flash of white, and all eyes were on the young woman who had dropped from the tree above. Her face was pretty enough, nothing was extraordinarily large or small, and her face was not dotted by too many blemishes. Her deep brown eyes were sharp and quietly boasted intelligence. She was wearing the same uniform as the boys; dark pants and shoes and a white button up shirt. The cuffs of her shirt were unbuttoned, as were all the buttons down her front, revealing a black tank top, fringed at the top. All in all, she was quite ordinary. Except for one feature.

She had a thick mane of light green hair traversing halfway down her back.

"He… hey, Queen…" one of the Leader's lackeys began meekly.

The girl ignored him, looking instead to the leader. "What are you doing, Aiko?" She demanded in a low, bored voice, as if his answer did not matter to her at all.

Aiko chuckled, though it was a bit more forced than when he had been talking to Yusuke, "Nothin', we're just palling around with these guys, weren't we boys?" The was a quiet murmur of agreement; it seemed that no one wanted to be caught disagreeing with the leader, yet they did not want to mess with the girl in front of them. Aiko continued with a tad more confidence, as if he had gleaned some type of knowledge in the past few moments, "Why does it matter to you, Queenie?"

The girl grinned, "Because," she placed an arm around Yusuke's shoulders, "this guy here," she placed a chipped nail against his neck for effect, "is my deputy." She drew away from Yusuke and stepped closer to Aiko, glaring hard. "So you better back off."

The two glowered at each other for a few moments longer; an unspoken enmity between them. Finally, Aiko backed down, rocking back on his heels. He sullenly ordered his boys off, and they began walking away from the park.

The girl, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei watched as the boys left the park, not moving from their spots until they were out of sight. Finally, when she deemed acceptable, the girl's haughty shoulders relaxed slightly and she began walking away.

"Hey!" Yusuke exclaimed. He reached out, grabbing the girl's wrist. The other boys winced; they had seen this girl for all of three minutes and knew that that was not a good idea. "Sa-ya!" he exclaimed, breaking the name into two whiny syllables.

A moment later he was sprawled across the ground, clutching his stomach. Saya's hand was still clenched as she hissed venomously, "Don't talk to me. Don't come near me. Don't look at me. Don't you dare even think about me."

"But…"

Saya turned on her heel, talking over her shooulder, "It should be easy for you. It's not like you have in the past."

She walked away, the black dog from before trotting along beside her.

**A/N: Personally, I really like how this chapter turned out, especially the end. Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hi there! Saya's finally here! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho.**

Once again the boys found themselves on the sidewalk, their bags (which they had abandoned behind the trash cans of Yusuke's uncle's home) behind them. They really had not thought of what they would do if they were turned down. Yusuke's vague idea about getting a job and starting over, hiding out in the country until the thieves were caught was, as expected, not completely thought through.

"Hey Urameshi? Why don't we just go ask Yukina and Genkai…"

"No," Hiei interrupted.

Kurama cleared his throat. "Kuwabara, think. Both Genkai and Yukina have contact with Botan, Koenma, George and various other Spirit world officials. We have no idea how these thieves got through to the human world. Staying with Genkai could possibly be one of the most unintelligent moves we could make."

"Yeah Kuwabara," Yusuke said, as if he had known that all along.

"So… now what?" Kuwabara asked.

The boys (save Hiei) sighed collectively and lowered their heads.



Four heads looked up in unison as the skidding of rocks could be heard. The boys had spent all afternoon sitting on the curb in front of Yusuke's uncle's house in nearly-complete silence. Occasionally one of them would offer an idea of how to get money, a place to stay or to just _get out of this mess_ and the idea would immediately be shot down as too dangerous, irrational or just plain foolhardy. Now, the sun was setting, and they were getting cold and hungry.

The skidding of the rocks grew louder and louder until Saya came into view, the great black dog walking at her side. Saya had a black, briefcase-like school bag slung over her shoulder. She looked much more calm than she had before.

Saya halted in front of them, looking at the out the corner of her eye, her head barely turned towards them. She considered them as a great, lazy cat might consider a tiny mouse, seeming to be contemplating a big decision.

Finally she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Come on."

As she walked past them, the boys shared glances. Had she…

"Are you idiots coming of not?"



If the outside of the house had been disappointing, the inside was downright dismal.

The floor was slanted oddly, so much so that when Yusuke accidentally kicked a beer can, it rolled away into the dark recesses of the house. As the boys tried to enter all at once, Kuwabara ended up standing on the barely-carpeted first step of a staircase, which was only a foot away from the front door. Saya closed the door behind them and jogged up the steps, telling them to stay there.

The boys looked about. To their left, there was a small kitchen with brownish-white tile extending into the narrow hallway that they were standing in. The wall parallel to the hallway was lined with the refrigerator, stove, and microwave sitting on a counter. A few counters wrapped around from the end counter. There was another counter adjacent to a broken window facing the front lawn. Leaves were scattered about the floor near the broken window. There an empty space between the wrap around and the single counter that allowed access to the small room.

Over the counters, the boys could see the hallway ended into an open dining room. Beyond that, the boys could see nearly nothing. There was not a single light on in the entire house, and the darkness appeared what little life that could have been taken from the small pictures of flowers that were sporadically placed along the walls.

To the right, there was the staircase. It spiraled a bit, but the upper recesses of the house seemed even darker than the inner rooms on the lower level. The hallway the boys were standing in was so crowded that Kuwabara stood on top of the first step of the staircase and Kurama and Hiei stood in the entrance to the kitchen.

There was some loud cursing upstairs and a small 'thump'. Saya came down the stairs, dressed casually in jeans and a dark hoodie. The giant dog walked before her and, once it was down the stairs, disappeared into the dark parts of the house. Saya brushed passed the boys to enter the kitchen.

Yusuke seemed hesitant to follow his cousin into the kitchen, but a good shove from Kuwabara and Kurama moving aside changed his mind quickly. Saya was perched on a counter, drinking a cup of water. Feeling his friends' eyes on his back, Yusuke cleared his throat and braced himself for the conversation.

"So… uh… Saya…"

Saya drained her cup and placed it on the counter. "So you guys must be in a lot of trouble."

Yusuke was so startled that he actually flinched. How had she known? Had word of the 'Four Teenage Thieves Plunder Tokyo' reached this small town? "Wh—what?" he asked lamely.

Saya shrugged. As she spoke, she ticked of fingers for each statement, "You haven't seen me in years, the first time you come out to my house is with a bunch of other guys, you have a bunch of bags with you and, oh yeah…" she put both of her hands behind her and grinned lethargically, "and a very drunk Aunt Atsuko called last night ranting about her 'no good troublesome son'."

"Damn it, Mom!" Yusuke growled into the air.

Saya's grin gone, she crossed her legs and arms, one of her feet nearly in the sink, "So you feel like telling me what's going on?"

"Not really," Yusuke admitted.

Saya shrugged again and jumped down from the counter (Yusuke just then noticed how tall he must have gotten in the past few years; the top of her head would barely touch his chin if they stood next to each other). "Okay."

She nodded to the rest of the guys, "I'm Saya. I'm four months younger than Yusuke here, I live upstairs, and I go the high school down the street. I cook the meals and might clean during the day," she ran down the facts quickly and bluntly. "And I guess it would be polite if I found out your names."

Kuwabara stepped forward and took Saya's hands, "My name is Kazuma Kuwabara and I cannot say how grateful we all are for this enormous favor you are…"

Saya roughly wrenched her hands from Kuwabara's grasp. "Okay. I'm not going to like you. Moving on." She stared at Kurama.

"I'm Suiichi Kurama, but you can call me Kurama." Saya nodded and looked at Hiei.

"Hiei."

Again Saya nodded. "Okay. There are four bedroom and two bathrooms upstairs, a kitchen, half a bathroom, a garage, the living room and that area," she tilted her head back and pointed to the small area with a table behind the kitchen, "downstairs. You guys can take the garage."

Yusuke frowned. "But what about the two spare…"

A dark look crossed Saya's face. "I still hate you; I'm just letting you stay here because I feel sorry for the saps that you got into this mess."

There was some yelling from the front yard, and a baseball came in through the broken window and rolled across the tiled floor, bouncing off the counter Saya was sitting. Saya stooped down and grabbed the ball, and moved to the window. The boys were not sure what happened next, but they did know it involved a lot of yelling between many of voices. When Saya seemed satisfied, she drew her head in, tossed the ball in her palm of her hand.

She tossed the ball to Yusuke, who caught it the ball easily. She smirked at him. "Welcome to hell, you sorry sons of bitches."

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for this next chapter, but right now I'm talking to you from grounded land! I hope it won't take so long next time. Review!**


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